Narri, Narro!

Alaaf Dear Reader,

In the interests of furthering my knowledge into Fasching and the Narren, my Saturday was also spent Treffen-ing the Narren. The daylight hours afforded a much greater success in photographing, so here are some of my snapshots from wandering around the Altstadt:

Some of the Narren were happier to be photographed than others:

My trip through the Altstadt landed me in the middle of the celebrations, which included some form of tree raising ceremony (honestly, no idea what was going on there) and groups of children playing a wooden instrument similar to maracas whilst singing what I believe to be traditional songs for this time of year. Again, I was confused and no-one seemed to be offering any form of explanation; although this lovely lady took a liking to my shopping and couldn't understand why I had brought it with me to this outdoor concert...

In the evening, I met up with some of my fellow exchange students for dinner and to try and work out what was going on! Even inside the restaurant, we were not safe, and three different musical big bands turned up during our meal to serenade our munching...

And just in case anyone was wondering how the marching musicians keep their beer safe, fear not dear friends, they have it all covered:

Going a-Narren Treffen-ing

Helau Dear Reader,

Sandwiched between clowns, chickens, snow queens and some ‘Narren’, I spent part of this evening happily dancing in the street to live music to celebrate the Grosses Narren Treffen coming to Konstanz.

A Narr (plural, Narren) roughly translates as ‘fool’ or ‘joker’, and they are a staple of Karneval/Fasching, which is a big week-long festival all over Germany before Lent begins, with lots of costumes, music, dancing, and, I would assume, drinking of beer. It is said that the ‘carnival season’ is actually the fifth season within Germany, and judging by tonight’s pre-Fasching celebration, it should be a lot of fun when the time comes. This weekend is the Grosses Narren Treffen (literally translated, Big Meeting of Fools), in which groups from around Baden-Würtemberg who arrange Fasching in their own towns, all join up together to have a pre-Fasching mini-Karneval each year.

Not having really understood how big a deal Karneval is within Germany, I did not quite know what to expect, and was rather underdressed as part of the minority of non-costumed people. Anything goes it seems, and Narrens themselves appear to differ between groups, with varieties in colour, scale-size, facial decoration and general shape of silhouette achieved!

I decided to go along to the Monsterkonzert, which turned out to be a meeting of many groups of Narren Big Bands, playing lots of jolly tunes, and basically having a bit of a street party. Not realising the event appeared to begin with a procession of some kind, I did manage to find myself walking along with some of the Narren with confused faces of little princesses and witches looking at me, trying to work out what I had come as!

Having worked out that being in the parade without costume is not great etiquette; I sidled off to stand on the street side, only to have an entire brass band seem to follow me to this position. I ended up behind a Narr carrying a metallic blue marching tuba (tuba decorations appear to be important, I also spotted a group with cow patterns), clad in a glittery blue robe, complete with frilly sparkly lace and fake fur. Happily I bopped around behind him, trying to look like I wasn’t a total lost tourist, and wondering whether the teddy bear suspended on the end of the trombone was going to come flying off at some point!

This group’s playing over, the next group began, which seemed to annoy my new favourite Tuba-Narr. Turning to me, he commented that the real way to have a Monsterkonzert was to have all the groups playing altogether at the same time (preferably all with the same piece of music). He also allowed me to stand inside his tuba for a bit, which was quite heavy and kindly laughed along with me as I attempted to bob around holding it in time to the music. Seeing the sympathetic looks of my fellow audience members, it was clear that they realised I had not got a clue what was going on – various older couples gave me the knowing “You don’t really understand what’s going on here, do you?” head tilt with small smile – clearly I will have to get a costume for the real thing…

German Lecture Culture

Ein gutes Rutsch ins neues Jahr Dear Reader,

This week has marked the restart of my lectures following the Christmas break, and I realise that I have not yet had the opportunity to present my social study of lecture-goers behaviour here in Konstanz.

Lectures here in Germany appear to fulfil a very different role than they do back at home. Whether it is a place to eat your Chinese takeaway, play a football game on the iPad or to have a jolly good chat with your neighbours, this appears to be the purpose of these row-filled rooms. Taking notes also appears to be lacking here among most of my fellow lecture-goers, and walking in/out of the room across the front of the lecturer is totally acceptable. Sometimes I wonder whether these people are simply going for a little walk or have discovered a secret alternative meeting of minds which will inform them in a better way. Half of my lecturers also appear to have adopted the talk-and-walk technique, going for a little wander through the rows of us in the audience whilst still speaking; though with their heads buried in their papers, I’m worried for the day they forget where the stairs are. Also, when did it become acceptable to start lectures at 08.30am and exams at 08.00? Evidently the German work ethic is very different from my own…Although good morning exercise is provided by your spinny chair, which constantly wants to thrust you forward through the desk knees first!

The end of the lecture also has its own peculiarities. Rather than polite applause or the sound of rustling papers, the Germans favour the academic knock (I am assured this also occurs in debate competitions, but possibly nowhere else?). This has only ever occurred in lectures, classes and events I have attended at the University, that at the end of a speech, the speaker is returned gratitude by people knocking and tapping on the table, chair or on themself. Not in a polite, ‘Are you in?’ type of way, but rather either in an aggressive rapping with great enthusiasm or in a decidedly half-hearted manner, barely making contact with the surface. I didn’t even realise you could make such a variation in your knocking ability, though it should be remembered that it is an appreciation of genius (or lack of) and as such, it must be completed before running out of the lecture hall with great gusto to avoid being the last person in the room. Perhaps there is an Audimax monster that eats the last student left - the lecture-goers do appear to be gradually decreasing in number...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Merry Christmas Dear Reader,

In celebration of the yuletide, I have returned home for about a week of festive frivolity and joy with the family back in Blighty before the semester resumes itself. Unlike the UK, which runs on three terms, Germany is based on the two semester model – winter and summer – and as such, Christmas is only a short break and not a full blown vacation. Apologies for not reporting on each event as it happened; I’ve been spending my time catching up with many members of the family (12 of us on Christmas Day).

On Christmas Eve Eve, my other half and I went to the Royal Albert Hall to attend the Carols by Candlelight concert. Accompanied by the Mozart Festival Orchestra, resplendent in Mozart period costume complete with wigs, and the Mozart Festival Chorus, we sang our way through many of the older Christmas carols and songs. Much to our delight, there were also two readings – from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (one of my favourite books) and from The Birth of the Infant Jesus (which my other half believes was the gospel of Luke).

On Christmas Day we headed to The Swan pub for a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings; I was in heaven as I ate my way through apple and raspberry crumble, rather than Christmas pudding. Returning home utterly stuffed, we then proceeded to play many games, much to my father’s delight, as well as singing various songs horrendously loudly including much of the Sound of Music – I’m not sure my family are ready to imitate the von Trapps in public quite yet!

On Boxing Day we went to St Michael’s Manor in St Albans for Afternoon Tea, which was served on a three-tier cake stand, complete with little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, a selection of yummy petit fours (little cakes) and scones to be filled with clotted cream and strawberry jam. We had a lovely time pretending to be in a period drama ‘taking tea’ and letting the world go by for the afternoon.

Today though was less ladylike, as my other half took me to a Rugby match for ‘his team’. It was not quite how I had imagined it was going to be. Having never been to a sports match of any kind, I was imagining some form of scrum both on and off the pitch, but the reality was rather different. Instead both teams’ supporters were sat together and the songs were politely sung in friendly rivalry, without menace. What also surprised me was how much standing around there was during the actual game. There were patches of intense action with mad running and crazy tackles, which were exciting and thrilling, even though I had no idea what was going on most of the time! Apparently one team was not doing the scrum properly, so this lead to a lot of getting into hold, stopping and then reforming – this happened at least four times in a row until the referee got bored or they did it properly or something...Would I go back? Yes, if I was invited and if my inviter doesn’t mind having to explain everything to me and suffer my morbid interest in first aiding!

Let It Snow

Abend Dear Reader,

Snow has hit Konstanz. With a few on and off days, the snow finally decided to settle within Konstanz itself today, but snow was already thick out in the Germany countryside yesterday on the way to Freiburg (im Breisgau). I have actually been to Freiburg in the pre-blog era on holiday with my other half, but decided to revisit with a good friend to see the Christmas market, as well as having a bit of an explore.

It took us about two and a half hours from Konstanz on the train and dashing through the snow gave us the chance to get some of the most stunning snow scenes. Much of the landscape looked like a mix between Narnia and a Christmas card. The track took us through the heart of the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), complete with mountain ranges and little picturesque villages. Much of the snow hidden by the trees was untouched, a completely perfect winter wonderland.

Arriving in Freiburg, we headed into the Altstadt to hide out of the cold and had a look around the Münster, which was made of the local red sandstone in the year 1200. Unfortunately, as a bear of little brain, I’d forgotten to check whether my camera had the memory card in it, so I unfortunately have no photos, but trust me when I say that the tower is stunning and can be used to guide yourself to the centre of Freiburg itself. We had an explore around the medieval bits of the town, including trying to get into the university, and were delighted to wander around the Christmas market. Unfortunately though, the Kinderpunsch was not up to the standards of Konstanz and the mug I’ve managed to get back, has got a damaged pattern on it. Still, we did have a lovely day and I’m glad I did revisit it to see the town again.

This morning we awoke to a layer of icing dust sprinkled over Konstanz, which continued to fall throughout the morning. Delighted with this discovery, having dreamed of seeing the Bodensee adorned with snowflakes, my friend and I rushed outside to play in the snow. In the end we settled on building a snow-darlek; a feat which took us the best part of four hours and Jack Frost firmly nipping on my nose.

Christmas Carols

Tagchen Dear Reader,

Last night, a friend and I attended a Christmas carol and Advent song concert given by the University Choir at the Münster in the heart of the Altstadt. It gave us the chance to learn some of the traditional German carols, as we were provided with words and music - much to my delight! Luckily sat behind us was a very confident singer who was blasting out the tune at the top of her voice, so I felt like I was back at school in a choir rehearsal once again. Despite a few faltering notes at the beginning, I was happily pelting out the descants by the end. Although we knew basically none of the songs, we did start to pick them up after the first verse/chorus and had much fun trying to sight-sing in a different language.

The evening did make me miss my music though - both my music and drama have had to be sacrificied in the name of academic studies for my degree, but I do hope that my adult life will bring opportunities to return to them - I've always wanted to star in a musical, so maybe that dream will come true with some Am-Drams in the future. I'd forgotten how much a part of my life singing and music used to be; unfortunately the voice has gone a bit rusty, and the high notes keep disappearing every now and again, but I hope that some point soon they will return with a bit of practice. Sorry Mitbewohners, I'm going to be singing my heart out loud and proud in my room from now on!

Being Blown into St Gallen

Grissgodd Dear Reader,

Yesterday we ventured further into Switzerland to visit the beautiful town of Sankt Gallen. Having managed to get very lost looking for Kreuzlingen station, we managed to get the train a full hour after I had originally planned! Luckily the train journey passed quickly as we sped through the very green Swiss countryside towards the mountains, which were not as snow capped as expected at this time of year. For much of the ride the track clung closely to coast of the Bodensee, giving me the chance to see much more of the lake than I have previously achieved.

Despite the freezing cold wind and the intense downpour, St Gallen really was very pretty and as we made our way to the Altstadt, we came across the 'Stadtlounge' - a modern art installation which covered the roads and pavements in red. Built in the central square was a set of solid 'sofas' accompanied by a table and even hanging lamps, suspended between the buildings!

Continuing on, we went further into the Altstadt in order to visit the abbey complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The cathedral is stunnning, both from outside and in, though of interest (to me at least) was the amount of confessional booths available inside. Rather than having little chapels lining the edges of the main body of the building, instead were confessional booths set into the walls and decorated with various little faces in the doors.

We then went on to visit the Stiftsbibliothek, the abbey library. This claims to be one of the oldest libraries in Europe, though I'll admit I was a little disappointed by the size - having expected a version of the Bodleian. In order to protect the floor, we had to put on huge pairs of slippers over our shoes, which gave the feeling of sliding one's way across the room (plus giving me a quick chance to practice some spins and piroettes, which I duely took). In the corner was an ancient Egyptian mummy which was a gift to St Gallen's mayor, who just sort of left it there and didn't collect it!

Having gone outside to risk looking at the biggest Christmas tree in Switzerland, the wind decided to pick up. I was very nearly carried away by a particularly violent gust and if it hadn't been for my other half holding onto me, I fear I would have been stuck up the top of one of the towers like a Christmas tree fairy...

Unfortunately, we then went along to the Christmas market, but were sadly disappointed. Having been sold as 'the most romantic Christmas market in Switzerland' by much of the internet, the lonely row of bedraggled looking shacks did not do much to raise the spirits. The lack of Kinderpunsch or Christmas market mugs meant that we bid a hasty retreat into Starbucks for tea (the only place it seems possible to get milk in a tea) and then wandered further back into the heart of the Altstadt. As we roamed aimlessly, we came across various houses with bay windows, known in the guidebook as 'oriels'. This was one of our particular favourites: